Practically all consumer electronic products in use today come with a remote control. In most cases, the remote control has many buttons, each dedicated to the control of one or more specific features of the consumer electronics product. As these products increase in complexity, so does the number of buttons required. At some point, the increased number of buttons renders the remote control mostly useless for a large number of users.
The present invention takes a fresh look at the remote control of consumer electronic products. It replaces the large number of buttons with a simple handheld remote control unit that includes at least one touchpad together with a rich array of additional sensors, such as acceleration sensors, case perimeter sensors, pressure sensors, RF signal sensors, and the like. The remote control system responds to signals from this rich array of sensors using pattern recognition technology that allows the system to control many complex functions within consumer electronic equipment based on the manipulation and gestural movement of the remote control by the user. The pattern recognition system is adaptive. It can identify different users by the manner in which the remote control system is utilized and it can adapt so that each user can manipulate the system in his or her own unique way, and still effect control over the various functions of the consumer electronic equipment.
The remote control unit, itself, can also respond to the sensory input “meaning” to alter the manner in which the remote control unit behaves. In this way, visual, audible or tactile cues, as well as power conservation strategies, can be controlled and revised based on the sensory input data.
For a more complete understanding of the invention, refer to the following description and to the accompanying drawings.